I'm fairly new to investment, ETF/mutual fund etc, so I'm looking for a good site that give good analysis on ETF/fund/bond/stock anaylsis. I heard Morningstar is good or there are other site is better.

Fri Mar 18, 2016 5:19 pm

oldguySenior Member

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quote: good analysis on ETF/fund/bond/stock anaylsis.

Yeah, morningstar is very complete, the standard for the business. Are you looking for ways to buy individual stocks? Or sectors (ETFs)?. Or the generic market - index funds, mutual funds?

Are you in the wealth-building part of life? Or wealth-preservation?

Fri Mar 18, 2016 5:51 pm

s002wjhNew Member

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quote:Originally posted by oldguy

quote: good analysis on ETF/fund/bond/stock anaylsis.

Yeah, morningstar is very complete, the standard for the business. Are you looking for ways to buy individual stocks? Or sectors (ETFs)?. Or the generic market - index funds, mutual funds?

Are you in the wealth-building part of life? Or wealth-preservation?

I'm more interest in buying sectors ,funds/etf. got a full time jobs/family don't have time to research individual stock, I'm currently into wealth-building for retire plan, since I still got 20-30yrs of work before retire, I'm interest in more aggressive approach. any other site that's given good advice/anaylsis on sector investment?

also is ETF typically has the lowest expense ratio?

Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:03 pm

oldguySenior Member

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quote: sectors ,funds/etf. got a full time jobs/family don't have time to research individual stock, I'm currently into wealth-building for retire plan, since I still got 20-30yrs of work before retire

Think of the generic market index as risk level 1, ie the up/downs of the SP500. Sectors (ETFs) would be level 2, (level 1 with the ETF superimposed onto it). And individual stocks would be level 3, ( level 2 with the risk of individual company failures superimposed onto it. ).

Only 15% of professional fund managers are able to meet/beat the 11%/y of the unmanaged SP500 Index - two reasons, they are picking stocks from that same population of 500 11% stocks, and 2, the management overhead. (ie, they have to get about a 14% gross return (11% net) from that population that averages 11%/yr.)

The most successful investors over the past 30 to 40 years have been the Index buyers, they incrementally added to their SP500 funds, never selling, just adding. That's where the million dollar 401k accounts live.

Yeah, the lowest costs are ETFs and unmanaged Index Funds, the Big Box no-load fund companies charge about 0.1%/yr or less - so you get to keep about 10.9% of their 11%/yr average.
BTW, the original ETF was the SP500 Index, Spyders (SPY).

Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:58 pm

s002wjhNew Member

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quote:Originally posted by oldguy

quote: sectors ,funds/etf. got a full time jobs/family don't have time to research individual stock, I'm currently into wealth-building for retire plan, since I still got 20-30yrs of work before retire

Think of the generic market index as risk level 1, ie the up/downs of the SP500. Sectors (ETFs) would be level 2, (level 1 with the ETF superimposed onto it). And individual stocks would be level 3, ( level 2 with the risk of individual company failures superimposed onto it. ).

Only 15% of professional fund managers are able to meet/beat the 11%/y of the unmanaged SP500 Index - two reasons, they are picking stocks from that same population of 500 11% stocks, and 2, the management overhead. (ie, they have to get about a 14% gross return (11% net) from that population that averages 11%/yr.)

The most successful investors over the past 30 to 40 years have been the Index buyers, they incrementally added to their SP500 funds, never selling, just adding. That's where the million dollar 401k accounts live.

Yeah, the lowest costs are ETFs and unmanaged Index Funds, the Big Box no-load fund companies charge about 0.1%/yr or less - so you get to keep about 10.9% of their 11%/yr average.
BTW, the original ETF was the SP500 Index, Spyders (SPY).

so SP500 type is good long term investment? also ETF vs index fund or other mutual fund for 5-10yr investment, whats the pro and cons? I heard ppl still buy a lot index fund even though ETF has lower expense ratio and other advantage?

Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:05 pm

oldguySenior Member

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ETFs are good if you want to trade sectors - eg, financials, auto's, agriculture, retail, etc. The exception is SPY, it is not a sector, it's the whole market. For longterm investing there is little difference between SPY and an SP500 Index Fund - I think most folks are steered by who they happen to have an account with, what their 401k Plan provider offers, etc.

Check a few 30-yr blocks, you'll see that the SP500 has an average longterm return of about 11%/yr, that is enough time for the ups/downs to statistically cancel and converge on ab out 11%. But in the shortterm, say 5 years, it could have a couple "down 40%" years and only a couple
"plus 30%" years. So the market is not a good place if you are trying to protect money for 5 yrs, you need a savings product for that.

The Rule - risk and return are directly proportional. If you want 'no risk', you need to settle for low return (essentially an inflation offset). If you want wealth-building you need to take enough risk to outpace inflation. That is where the 401k millionaires are - 11%/yr risk/return commitment in a 30-year investment (It takes patience to become wealthy.)

Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:06 pm

Financial Service DirectoNew Member

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MorningStar is a great tool. I highly recommend The Wall Street Journal (paid edition)...it's well worth the investment. Investor's Business Daily is also a great publication.

Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:48 am

ken-do-nimFull Member

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I like the Research section of my brokerage Capital One Investing, but I haven't compared it to Morngingstar.